JASON NEWSTED: 'METALLICA Still Remains The Biggest Ambassadors To Heavy Metal'

Devin Pratt of FHM (For Him Magazine) recently conducted an interview with former METALLICA and current VOIVOD/SUPERNOVA bassist Jason Newsted. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

FHM: How much electricity does Tommy Lee produce?

Jason: "I am so psyched about playing with Tommy and it hasn't been like that since I joined VOIVOD. And now that I know I'm gonna have this big, powerful dude behind me going, 'woo da do do da do da.' Man, holy God, it's like the whole sky is opening up! It's some kind of feeling that hasn't been churned up in me in a long time."

FHM: Not since METALLICA?

Jason: "METALLICA was the thing I put most of my energy into, but it didn't mean I didn't want to do other stuff. When I left METALLICA, I stopped for about three hours to have a sandwich, and maybe too many beers that night, and that was about it, dude."

FHM: Do you miss playing with them?

Jason: "I miss the people. That was a big part of me — the connection with the people. I prided myself in meeting 500 people a day for however many years. That ambassadorship was fuckin' giant and METALLICA still remains the biggest ambassadors to heavy metal. Period."

FHM: Not many people would argue with that.

Jason: "The gods are BLACK SABBATH. METALLICA did a different thing than them, though. We were always approachable. People could easily come up to me. Yes, METALLICA was with the people, but I was really with the people! Now I have an opportunity to reach out to more fans with SUPERNOVA. 'Rock Star' is gonna go around 70 or so countries, including places where people have never heard of fuckin' METALLICA or GUNS N' ROSES before. We're going to take this music to them!"

FHM: Do you think Axl Rose will release "Chinese Democracy" this year?

Jason: "Yeah, sure. Whatever. SUPERNOVA's album will be out before his."

FHM: You've crossed paths with Axl. Is he crazy or is he a genius?

Jason: "I haven't spent enough time with him to give a judgment like that. As a fan coming out to see their favorite band, and having the singer walk offstage or throw the mic down in frustration because the monitors were funky, it's not professional and it's not giving the people what they came for. Man, we did like 50 shows with Axl. We used the same monitors every night. I don't remember James or myself complaining once about that kind of stuff. The dude recorded some great vocal on some great rock songs, but you don't sell 50,000 tickets and walk off the stage. Fuck that!"

Read the entire interview at www.fhmus.com.